Okay, so Fiance and I are getting married in his home church, and because I’ve never been there and because we won’t be down there much until the wedding, some women there have offered to completely take over the church decor. At first, I was totally excited–one is a florist, one is an interior decorator, and they offered to do it for free, flowers and all–not bad right??

And then (duh duh duh duuuuuuhhhhh), I told a friend about my good fortune, and her eyes got really big and she was like, “Wow…. are you okay with that? I would be really worried if I were you… what if it looks terrible?” Now, she’s never met these women and never seen their work, but she did have a lot of family helpers for her wedding, and it didn’t go well for her.

Cue hyperventilation, anxiety, and sleepless nights.

So my question is this: if you were me, what would you do? Should I just relax and let these ladies do their thing, or should I be a little more proactive and start dictating exactly what I want? They asked to know what I wanted it to look like, and I gave them a pretty specific list (I like candles, don’t like bows and tulle, I have some really nice reception centerpieces you can use, our colors are black and white, I’m going for a look of understated elegance, etc.). Is this enough information for me to get what I’d like, or should I poke my nose in and be a little more involved? Help!

@UK Bride: I think you should definitely come up with some sort of sketch or inspiration photos to give these women. Just be specific about what you want, layout and everything. It sounds like they would do an excellent job with their expertise, and it was very kind and generous of them to offer to do this for free! However, I know that as brides we want things to be a certain way and fit our vision. I am sure they would welcome your input as to what you would like the space to look like. Being professionals, I imagine they want to make sure you are 100% satisfied with how it looks.

They’re paid to take someone’s ideas and turn them into reality (I think… could be wrong…). But she’d the one who I’d talk to about decorating the interior. Send her pics of what you have in mind with specific details on what you do/don’t like about the photos.

I think if you go that route, you’ll be fine. But I wouldn’t just say “black and white, understated elegance, no tulle and bows, etc”.

Of course, I’ve never worked with an interior decorator, so I could be completely wrong here. 🙂

Yeah, I think you girls are right… so the next question is, do you have any photos that would be good for inspiration?? I’m in need of something tangible to show them. Here’s my reception decor inspiration photo, just FYI:

One quirk about the sanctuary is that it has two aisles instead of one, which complicates matters…